38 Third-Party Archiving

Desired Result

The goal of this section is to grant both parties permission to utilize third-party trusted archives and/or participate in collaborative archiving initiatives, in alignment with their agreement on archival copying (see Archival Copy).

What it Means

The primary focus of this section is to preserve and access the Licensed Materials indefinitely. It provides libraries with the flexibility to use trusted third-party or collaborative archives, ensuring long-term access and compliance with institutional preservation standards while maintaining consistent usage terms. This protects both the licensor and licensee by maintaining the same usage restrictions, permissions, and terms for archived materials as were originally agreed upon, regardless of where the materials are stored or accessed. This is however dependent on the licensor agreeing to cooperate with third-party archives.

Using third-party trusted archiving services will safeguard against data loss due to corruption, cyber threats, or accidents. Preservation practices protect against these risks, ensuring the long-term survival of valuable academic content. Without these safeguards, there is a high risk of losing essential resources necessary to preserve humanity’s intellectual and cultural heritage and scientific and educational advancement.

Desired Language

Example clause from traditional Model License (2016):

“Third Party Archiving Services. Licensor and Licensee acknowledge that either party may engage the services of third-party trusted archives and/or participate in collaborative archiving endeavors to exercise Licensee’s rights under this section of the Agreement. Licensor agrees to cooperate with such archiving entities and/or initiatives as reasonably necessary to make the Licensed Materials available for archiving purposes.  Licensee may perpetually use a third-party trusted system or collaborative archive to access or store the Licensed Materials, so long as Licensee’s use is under the same terms as this Agreement.

In the event the Licensor discontinues or changes the terms of its participation in a third-party archiving service, the Licensor shall notify the Licensee in advance and shall in good faith seek to establish alternative arrangements for trusted archiving and perpetual access to the Licensed Materials.” (CDL Model License 2016)

Alternative Model License Language (2023)

Here is suggested alternative license language which address some of the concerns of existing model license language mentioned below:

“Licensor shall deposit electronic copies of the licensed content covered by this Agreement into three (3) mutually trusted third-party digital archiving services (e.g. a national library, CLOCKSS, Portico,) whose mission is to provide sustainable and reliable long-term access to managed digital resources for the benefit of the greater global community.

Licensor shall provide to Licensee regular confirmation that licensed content covered by this Agreement has been successfully delivered to digital archiving services.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section should not be confused with archival and perpetual access rights negotiated directly with Licensor, nor post-cancellation access and delivery of licensed content upon termination or cancellation referenced elsewhere in this Agreement.”

(Sara Bahnmaier, et al. Digital Preservation Language for Agreements Between Libraries and Publishers. 1, Zenodo, 1 Mar. 2023, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7688275.)

Tricks and Traps

Aging License Language

One trap here is relying on older model license language which may be outdated.

Despite progress in including preservation language in subscription journal agreements, significant gaps remain in coverage for books, databases, and open access publications. Common issues include vague terms limiting access, one-sided “best efforts” without mutual commitment, and confusion between post-cancellation access and long-term preservation. Content coverage often lacks specificity, leaving out essential elements like data and software, with unclear timelines and depth of preservation. Verification of vendor archiving is challenging, and administrative requirements can be burdensome. (Sara Bahnmaier, et al. Digital Preservation Language for Agreements Between Libraries and Publishers. 1, Zenodo, 1 Mar. 2023, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7688275.)

What constitutes a Trusted Archive or best archival practices?

An additional trap here is failing to assure that Licensed Materials are being placed in a veritable trusted archive. Specific guidelines and thresholds are now used for selecting third party services for archival purposes. At the core of selection, a trusted archive “is one that has demonstrated its ability to preserve content and its usability in the long term.” (Sara Bahnmaier, et al. Digital Preservation Language for Agreements Between Libraries and Publishers. 1, Zenodo, 1 Mar. 2023, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7688275.)

Finally, without specific language in a license outlining obligations in detail, there is a trap of not achieving long term preservation goals. For example, it is an emerging professional standard that “content should be preserved with at least 3 trusted archives. 3 is the magic number when it comes to digital preservation services – each additional service roughly halves the chance of loss.” (Université Libre de Bruxelles. “Université Libre de Bruxelles Libraries’ Three-Tier Digital Preservation Strategy.” CLOCKSS, 8 Nov. 2023, https://clockss.org/ulb-three-tier-digital-preservation-strategy/)

Assumptions vs Action

A final trap is to leave digital preservation to assumptions. Libraries and similar institutions cannot assume others are handling this simply because major publishers are involved, the content originates from a library publisher, copies are stored in an institutional repository, or the material is open access. Success in digital preservation depends on proactive and collaborative efforts.

Importance and Risk

Ensuring adequate provisions for digital archiving and long-term preservation guarantees that the legitimate use of knowledge corpora will be supported well into the future. This commitment upholds ethical standards of transparency, reproducibility, and accountability in research by enabling future scholars to verify and replicate studies. Additionally, by leveraging third-party and collaborative archiving services, libraries can protect digital collections from becoming inaccessible if a vendor discontinues its platform, as records of Licensed Materials will remain preserved through the third-party archival solution.

These trusted third-party archiving services also provide critical safeguards against data loss caused by corruption, cyber threats, or accidental damage. Without such measures, the risk of losing essential resources increases significantly, jeopardizing the preservation of humanity’s intellectual and cultural heritage as well as the continued progress of scientific and educational advancements.